2. How many guns in our cities have been traced or recovered by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from 2009 to 2012?

• Newburgh — 221

• Middletown — 52

• Kingston — 25

3. How many unlawful gun carriers have been convicted of illegal gun sales between 2009 and 2012?

• Statewide — 125

• Hudson Valley — 5

4. What is the ratio of violent gun crime in our counties in 2011?

• Orange - 1 per every 1,950 people

• Sullivan - 1 per every 3,250 people

• Ulster - 1 per every 5,100 people

5. How much local violent crime from 2009 to 2012 involved guns?

• Newburgh — 21.5%

• Kingston — 17.6%

• Middletown — 13.2%

Sources: New York state Divison of Criminal Justice Services; Federal Bureau

of Alcohol, Tobacco

and Firearms.

» Social News

In late 2012, an officer for Ulster County's gangs and drugs unit spotted a local man selling shotguns and rifles on Ad Digest.com and GunsAmerica.com.

Most of the guns posted were legal in New York, said Ulster Sheriff's officers, but the seller wasn't allowed to have them.

That's because Saugerties resident Ronald Grumberg, 57, is a convicted felon. He was on probation from 1999 to 2003 for altering or removing motor vehicle identification.

On March 1, county and state officials searched Grumberg's home and found two handguns, and 15 rifles and shotguns. He was charged with 13 felonies and 20 misdemeanors.

His arrest comes as gun trafficking — illegal sale of the weapons — moves to the center of the gun debate.

Some federal legislators and the Obama administration are pushing for tighter gun controls, while the National Rifle Association and some other legislators say we should enforce existing laws first, among other steps.

Gov. Cuomo's gun legislation is growing more controversial to many. And the illegal guns keep on coming, according to law enforcement officials (See sidebar). A town of Ulster woman, for instance, was arrested Thursday and charged with criminal sale of a weapon.

Like most other traffickers, guns weren't Grumberg's most lucrative business.

Trafficked guns are normally the by-product of a drug bust operation, the Sheriff's Office said.

But Grumberg didn't deal drugs. He spent the past decade brokering vehicle sales in-person and on eBay, said State Police Senior Investigator Pete Kusminsky. That's actually what led cops to Grumberg in the first place.

An eBay customer reported on May 18, 2012, that they paid Grumberg $1,200 for a 1984 GMC flatbed truck, but never received the vehicle, officials said.

On Oct. 3, Grumberg was accused of conducting an offline sale of a $10,000 Jaguar without the permission of the car owner.

Grumberg was charged in both cases on March 1 with grand larceny, a felony. State police are looking into several other similar reports to see if they merit criminal charges.

Cell phone records from the car investigation led police to Grumberg's gun business.

Despite being a convicted felon, Grumberg has sold at least one gun per week for a few years, the Sheriff's Office said. Grumberg acquired the guns from various sources — both legal and illegal — police said.

Gun trafficking has been the first source of federal bipartisan agreement over gun laws since December's Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.

Two Republican and three Democratic senators — including New York's Kirsten Gillibrand — unveiled legislation Monday that cracks down on people who illegally transfer guns or ammunition to others. The bill passed a Senate committee Thursday 11-7, garnering the support of one Republican. It'll likely be taken up by the entire Senate in April.

The legislation seeks to curb the movement of guns from Southern states with lax gun laws to Northern states with stricter laws.

More than 3,600 out-of-state guns were recovered at New York crimes, according to 2009 federal data, while just 500 New York guns were found at out-of-state crime sites.

States that require background checks and record-keeping for all gun sales — rather than just for those made by licensed dealers — help prevent more guns from getting in the hands of criminals in other states, said Johns Hopkins health policy professors Daniel Webster and Jon Vernick.

But some scholars dispute that trafficking is the explanation for so many out-of-state guns in places like New York.

Florida State criminology professor Gary Kleck said routine cross-state migration of gun owners likely accounts for more illegal guns in Northern states than do anti-trafficking efforts.

Even prior to January's new gun restrictions, New York was just one of two states — New Jersey is the other — to have enacted all 10 laws recommended by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns to reduce gun trafficking.

Actions like those draw the ire of some local gun advocates, who see New York state's new laws as a pointless intrusion.

"We're looking to enact new laws when there's sufficient laws out there," said Gerry Fornino of the group Ulster County Friends of the Constitution.

"What's the point of new laws, when we don't enforce what's already on the books?"

Some people, like Ulster Undersheriff Frank Faluotico, said penalties for convicted felons like Grumberg found selling guns need to be stronger and include a mandatory prison sentence.

Convicted felons were the subject of 45 percent of federal gun-trafficking investigations between 1996 and 1998, according to the San Francisco-based national Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Some law-enforcement officials also argue that tougher penalties are needed for gang members convicted of gun crimes.

The volume of trafficked guns in upstate New York has remained steady over the past several years, said state police Maj. Wayne Olson, with trafficking activity highest in more densely populated areas.

Rifles and shotguns are the trafficked weapons of choice in rural areas, Olson said, while handguns and altered weapons are more popular in cities.

The Grumberg case was notable, though, for the number of guns involved. Ulster Sheriff's officers said they haven't had a operation produce that many trafficked guns since 2006.